Returning player

[KingAnt]

<p>Hiya all,</p><p>I used to play a Dirge until just after EOF came out and then I retired him to focus more on school.  Now that I got a bit o downtime, been thinking about rolling a Coercer.  Any hints for someone trying to adjust after a half-year or so vacation?</p><p>I tried the sticky about "coercer FAQs, New coercers look here", or something like that, but all the links took me to pages that wouldn't load.  </p>

[Dravendar]

Maybe I don't understand your question.  Specifically, what kind of hints were you looking for?  How to play a coercer?  How viable a class are they to solo with?  Why should you roll one?  Maybe if you focus your question a bit more you would get some good feedback. 

[KingAnt]

<p>Ah... sorry, was a bit vague there.</p><p>My question is more along the lines of:</p><p>What kind of changes have happend in the last half year or so to the Coercer class?  </p><p>Have these changes increased or decreased the value of the coercer in a group?  </p><p>Are mezzes effective still?  </p><p>Is this a toon that really needs "twinking" to be effective?  </p><p>Before leaving, I had a lvl 35 illusionist, will my experience lvling a coercer be the same?</p><p> I'm not expecting to solo very well with the coercer, but I'd like to be able to stay constant with them (toe to toe with white cons, or Blue ^'s-maybe even ^^'s)  I expect most of my lvling will only occur in the group context.</p><p>As mentioned earlier, My old main was a Dirge, lvl 70, who was a Trouby until lvl 64.  Had a monk at lvl 41, and several healers in the mid 30's (can't remember where exactly though).  I prefer playing "support" type characters.  </p><p>Much of what I've been reading has been fairly negative, but then again so was the Dirge board before I left, and I didn't think it was all that bad, in fact, from what I'm hearing the Dirge is actually looking a bit prettier than before I left, but thats off topic...</p><p>Thanks in advance!</p>

[Trepan]

<cite>KingAnt wrote:</cite><blockquote>What kind of changes have happend in the last half year or so to the Coercer class? <span style="color: #00ffcc">Many mobs are now unmezzable or uncharmable - a nerf, but one you can work around.</span> <p>Have these changes increased or decreased the value of the coercer in a group? </p><p><span style="color: #00cccc">Most groups don't want you mezzing in group anyway, until you reach some of the harder zones/instances.</span> </p><p>Are mezzes effective still? </p><p><span style="color: #00ffff">Still land on a lot of mobs, still do their job, and still removes the mob from AoE damage.</span> </p><p>Is this a toon that really needs "twinking" to be effective? </p><p><span style="color: #00ffcc">Upgrade your spells to the highest you can afford.</span> </p><p>Before leaving, I had a lvl 35 illusionist, will my experience lvling a coercer be the same?</p><p><span style="color: #00ffcc">No dependable pet, so, take that as you may.</span> </p><p> I'm not expecting to solo very well with the coercer, but I'd like to be able to stay constant with them (toe to toe with white cons, or Blue ^'s-maybe even ^^'s)  I expect most of my lvling will only occur in the group context.</p><p>As mentioned earlier, My old main was a Dirge, lvl 70, who was a Trouby until lvl 64.  Had a monk at lvl 41, and several healers in the mid 30's (can't remember where exactly though).  I prefer playing "support" type characters.  </p><p>Much of what I've been reading has been fairly negative, but then again so was the Dirge board before I left, and I didn't think it was all that bad, in fact, from what I'm hearing the Dirge is actually looking a bit prettier than before I left, but thats off topic...</p></blockquote>I enjoyed the heck out of my crawl from 1 -> 70.   Most of the reason for that was my solo versatility with charmed mobs, our toolkit of abilities and the CHALLENGE of getting there!  I survived many encounters I had no reasonable right to. I also died to many, many, many, many mobs that I thought I should have been able to take.  Learn to die gracefully and accept that you will eat floor.  A lot.  8-)

[KingAnt]

<p>Well, I rolled a new one in Neriak, and its been a fairly easy grind to lvl 11, only died twice, once when my computer crashed mid-battle, and once when I lost a charm early into the battle and got turned around while running to safety and ran into something even  bigger.</p><p> Question for those who are late gamers: </p><p> regarding Veteran items:</p><p>Do you think its better to use the exp potions early to get my toon up to where all the good spells are?  Or should I save them to alleviate the end-game grind?</p>

[Life777form]

save them till at least 40 something you can get that far just doing quests really easy and get lots of aa in the process

[Rythen16]

<cite>KingAnt wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Do you think its better to use the exp potions early to get my toon up to where all the good spells are?  Or should I save them to alleviate the end-game grind?</p></blockquote>Definitely save the potions until you hit your 50's. Then the level grind comes to a halt. Leveling below 50 is a breeze solo and grouping. Once you hit the level of Steamfont Mountains you are set as that zone will take you up to 45-50 very quickly.